Swindon, UK

What Swindon is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 5,399 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.

5,399 businesses on file · 114 trades · 110 sectors · · built from geonet.oxford on 2026-11-07

Businesses5,399
0% carry coordinates
Specialised in12
trades above the national pattern
Places of worship32
Franchise brands62
already operating here

Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Swindon → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.

1

The local economy

What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.

Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.

The two biggest markets here

Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.

Business density—
Breadth of the base410
broad — 87 industry groups, top three 26.4%
Survival the mix implies56.4%
at five years, against 51.4% for all private establishments
Coded to NAICS24.7%
of which 67.6% unambiguous

What this city is specialised in

Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 2 UK metro tables. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.

Thin against the national pattern

Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.

The base against the entry screen

Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.

Enter
25.7%
343 businesses
Caution
54.6%
729 businesses
Structure decides
19.7%
263 businesses
Not screened
0%
0 businesses

How to read the survival figure

Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.

Weighted over 100% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And what it does not measure

A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.

2

Who lives here, and who the city is for

The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.

No census subdivision is mapped for uk-swindon in local/census-map.json, so this page carries no census figures. The mapping is kept explicit because Canada has several places called London, Toronto and Kelowna, and attaching the wrong one would put another city's demographics on this page.

3

The communities the register shows

A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.

CommunityInstitutions WorshipTrade Where it shows
Polish 1 — 3
Polish Catholic Association
Irish 1 — —
The Moloney School Of Irish Dancing
Chinese — — 9
Dutch — — 6
Swiss — — 4
Scottish — — 4
South Asian — — 1
French — — 1
Islamic — — 1
Caribbean — — 1
4

Where the communities are

Streets, not neighbourhood names. The data knows that Greek institutions sit on one street and Greek restaurants on another; it does not know the word "Greektown", so it does not use it.

5

What the city is made of

Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 5,399 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.

SectorBusinesses ShareWhat is in it
Construction 227 4.2% plumbing (71) · painting (37) · roofing (33) · machinery (29) · electrician (16) · heating and cooling (14) · carpet (11) · excavating (4)
Education 170 3.1% school (142) · library (26) · garden (2)
Living 150 2.8% cleaning (39) · place of worship (32) · furniture (22) · appliances (14) · veterinary (13) · property management (12) · fire safety (6) · apartment (4)
Business 140 2.6% association (61) · accounting (57) · consulting (14) · foundation (3) · vending (3) · auction (2)
Dining 111 2.1% restaurant (67) · fast food (27) · pizza (12) · chinese restaurant (3) · diner (1) · pubs (1)
advertising 110 2% orchard (1)
construction 85 1.6%
Automotive 74 1.4% autos (62) · tires (8) · auto repair (3) · motorcycle (1)
Retail 71 1.3% flowers (28) · photography (14) · pet supply (6) · gifts (4) · toys (4) · jeweler (4) · department store (4) · antiques (3)
Travel 61 1.1% hotel (34) · travel agent (21) · motel (3) · parking (2) · insurance (1)
Agribusiness 45 0.8% landscaping (25) · farm (12) · dairy (6) · livestock (1) · forestry (1)
Finance 45 0.8% insurance (22) · mortgage (14) · bank (7) · loans (2)
engineer 44 0.8%
Logistics 42 0.8% storage (16) · packaging (10) · railroad (8) · forklifts (4) · truck transportation (2) · towing (2)
consulting 41 0.8%
legal 39 0.7%
banks 36 0.7% insurance (2)
cafes 36 0.7%
roofing 36 0.7%
movers 35 0.6%
6

The franchises already here

Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.

33 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.

BrandCategory HereWorldwide
Salvation Army retail 6 —
Royal Mail post 5 14,300
Swiss Chalet fastfood 3 190
Blockbuster Video video 2 5,900
Burger King fastfood 2 11,000
House of Fraser retail 2 —
Pizza Hut pizza 2 10,000
The Body Shop retail 2 —
Thomas Cook travel 2 700
Whittard of Chelsea retail 2 —
Budget Rent A Car car 1 1,900
Cash Converters retail 1 16
Costa Coffee coffee 1 755
Crystal Glass auto 1 —
Disney Store retail 1 —
Enterprise Rent A Car car 1 5,400
Hertz Rent A Car car 1 7,000
Holiday Inn businesshotel 1 —
Laura Ashley retail 1 —
Lawn Doctor specialty 1 475
Pizza Inn pizza 1 410
Royal Bank bank 1 —
Shop 'n Save supermarket 1 37
Sign-A-Rama specialty 1 800
St. John retail 1 —
Thomas Pink retail 1 60
Villa Pizza pizza 1 300
World of Water retail 1 18
Wyevale Garden Centres retail 1 100
Manor name only retail 12 —
Dillons name only supermarket 11 18
Tesco name only retail 6 1,780
Limited name only retail 4 —
ASDA name only supermarket 2 243
Blackwell name only book 2 6
Clarion name only businesshotel 2 —
Greyhound name only travel 2 —
HomeBase locations name only retail 2 320
Kingfisher name only home 2 680
Michaels name only retail 2 805
Starbucks name only coffee 2 3,500
Stitches name only retail 2 —
Borders name only book 1 559
Budgens name only supermarket 1 227
Burton name only retail 1 —
Cineworld name only entertainment 1 74
Debenhams name only retail 1 126
Diana name only supermarket 1 3
Esprit name only retail 1 —
Halfords name only retail 1 420
Honda name only car 1 —
Jacob name only retail 1 200
Lexus name only luxurycar 1 —
Londis name only supermarket 1 2,100
Mitsubishi name only auto 1 —
Nissan name only auto 1 —
Primark name only retail 1 160
Renaissance name only upscalehotel 1 —
Safeway name only supermarket 1 1,767
Somerfield name only supermarket 1 1,132
Waitrose name only supermarket 1 184
Waterstones name only retail 1 193
7

Real estate as a local trade

Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.

Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.

Selling homes

5312
6 firms · LQ 0.5

Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.

Named in the register
  • Business Space Services — Unit 22 Cheney Manor Industrial Estate
  • Colin Pike and Partners — 6 Commercial Road
  • Gaming International PLC — Abbey Stadium, Lady Lane, Blunsdon
  • R Edwards and Sons 1997 — 68 Ferndale Road
  • Rugby Park Properties 1 — Nationwide House; Pipers Way
  • Signal Development Co — 20 Hamble Road

Owning and letting

5311
4 firms · LQ 2.6

Lessors of real estate: the buildings themselves, filed under the building rather than the owner.

Named in the register
  • Chedworth Gate Residents — 9 Chedworth Gate
  • The Archers Highworth Management — 4 The Archers; Highworth
  • The Grange Drove Road Management Co — Apartment 1 The Grange; Drove Road
  • The Willows Wroughton Management — 21 Brunswick Street

Managing for owners

5313
12 firms · LQ 2.3

Property managers, who run buildings the landlord does not.

Named in the register
  • B R O C — Westmead Industrial Estate
  • Bmg Swindon — Kemble Drive
  • Cricklade Court Management — 5 Cricklade Court; Cricklade Street
  • Erin Properties Swindon — Faraday Rd
  • Finders Keepers — 6 West Swindon District Centre
  • Hazel Dean Accomodation — 1 Mendip Close
  • N F J Property Management — 66 Commercial Road
  • Rivergate Management Services — Unit 6 Rivergate Estate; Rivermead
  • Sherwood Property Management — 25 Commercial Rd
  • Slotapply Property Management — 26 Euclid Street
  • StMartins Property — Whitehill
  • Stuart Spencer — 50 High Street; Shrivenham

Building new homes

2361
4 firms · LQ 2.72

Residential builders and the general contractors who work for them.

Named in the register
  • A 2 Z Home Improvements — 111 Pinehurst Road
  • Folding Caravan Centre Swindon — 24 Turnpike Road; Blunsdon
  • Granite Tarmac — Fourways; Old Maimesbury Road
  • Sharland Roofing — 74 County Road

Financing it

5222
16 firms · LQ 1.41

Mortgage brokers and non-bank lenders.

Named in the register
  • Betterlife Mortgages — 120 Commercial Road
  • Britannia Loans and Mortgages — 5 Little London Court
  • D M R Mortgage Services — 27-28 Devizes Road
  • Essential Mortgages — Newburn Crescent
  • Green Abbey Mortgage Centre — 86 Thames Avenue
  • Ian White — 65 Tracy Close
  • M M B Finance — PO BOX 1194
  • Select Mortgage Services — 7 Little London Court
  • Swindon Joint Home Loans — Hawthorne Centre
  • Swindon Mortgage Services — Flat
  • T R Pascoe — 2-4 Wood Street
  • The Flexible Mortgage Centre — 156 High Street; Wooton Bassett
  • White Horse Mortgage Services — 1 Eastcott Hill
  • Woowich New Mortgage Business — 48 Bridge Street

On "how many doors"

How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the /property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.

8

Work on the go, mobile services

The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you. Each service opens a page on Ultimate 411 to request a quote or book a time.

A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 320 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 1 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.

The 320 Service=1 rows in search.local: work on the go, mobile services, where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.

home services

Accessible Home Renovations Air Filtration & Purifier Installation Short-Term Rental Turnover Appliance Installation Artificial Turf Installation Babyproofing & Safety Installs Electric Baseboard Heater Installation Basement Renovation Bathroom Fan Replacement & Installation Bathroom Renovation BBQ Cleaning Blinds & Shutters Installation Cabinet Refacing Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Carpet Installation Caulking & Sealing Ceiling Fan Installation Ceiling Design & Repair Central Vacuum Installation Countertop Installation Custom Closet Design & Installation Decorative Rock & Gravel Deep Cleaning Drain Cleaning Dryer Vent Cleaning & Hose Installation Drywall Repair Air Duct & Furnace Cleaning Electrical Inspection Electrical Panel & Breaker Upgrade Errand Running EV Charger Installation & Service Exterior Painting Faucet Installation Fence & Deck Staining Furnace & Air Conditioner Installation Furnace & AC Repair Furniture Assembly Garden Weeding & Maintenance Grocery Pickup & Delivery Gutter Cleaning Handyman (General Repairs) Hardwood Flooring Installation Hedge & Shrub Trimming Home Project Design Consultation House Cleaning House Sitting HVAC Tune-Up & Maintenance Insulation Installation Interior Painting Junk Removal & Dump Runs Kitchen Design Consultation Kitchen Renovation Laminate & Vinyl Flooring Installation Landscape Design & Planting Lawn Aeration & Seeding Lawn Leveling Lawn Mowing Fall Leaf Cleanup Light Fixture, Switch & Outlet Installation Material Take-off & Estimate Move-In / Move-Out Cleaning Moving Help (Labour Only) Moving with Truck Office Cleaning Outdoor Blinds & Shades Personal Shopper Picture & Mirror Hanging Pipe Insulation Plaster Wall Repair Pot Light Installation Pressure Washing Move Things Around the House Wiring Upgrade & Rewiring Driveway & Sidewalk Salting Shelving & Closet Organizer Installation Shower Valve Replacement Sink Installation Smart Camera & Doorbell Installation Smoke & CO Alarm Installation Snow Shovelling & Removal Sod Installation Lawn Sprinkler Installation Irrigation Repair & Maintenance Packing & Unpacking Sump Pump Installation & Replacement Smart Thermostat Installation Tile Installation Toilet Installation Toilet Repair Interior Trim & Baseboard Repair TV & Picture Mounting Wall & Ceiling Texturing Wall Panels & Accent Walls Wallpaper Installation & Removal Wardrobe Styling Water Damage Extraction Water Heater Installation (Tank & Tankless) Water Softener & Filtration Water Valve Replacement Weed Control Window AC Installation Window Cleaning Window Film Installation Spring & Fall Yard Cleanup
9

Schools and colleges

wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.

In the business register

Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.

school 142daycare 1
10

Health and care

What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.

Medical clinics0
Pharmacies0
Dental practices19

Matched on the name "hospital"

  • The Chiropractic Health Centre — West Swindon District Centre
  • Drove Veterinary Hospital — Hospital, 252 Croft Rd
  • Drove Veterinary Hospital — 27 County Road
  • Small Animal Hospital — 62-64 Purton Road; Moredon
  • Hospital Radio Swindon — Charlotte Mews
  • Drove Veterinary Hospital — 10 Moredon Road
  • Swindon Health Centre PD — Health Centre
  • Sevenfields Dental Health Centre — 437 Penhill Dv
  • Drove Veterinary Hospital — Unit 6/Abbey Meads Village Centre
  • Highworth Natural Health Centre — 12 Sheep Street, Highworth
  • Ridgeway Hospital — Moormead Rd
  • Drove Veterinary Hospital — Surgeries, St Margarets Retail Pk, Oxford Rd
  • Drove Veterinary Hospital — Surgeries, 12 Bath Rd, Wootton Bassett
  • West Swindon Health Centre — Link Av

geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.

14

What this record cannot tell you

Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.

  • No census figures on this page: this region is not mapped to a census subdivision in local/census-map.json, so the community counts here are business-register institutions, which is a different measurement and cannot substitute for a population.
  • wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
  • No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
  • 100.0% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 100%.

Built from

  • geonet.oxford — the local business register
  • wander.regions — city name, population, metro
  • search.local — trait vocabulary and the come-to-you services
  • search.cozfranchises — 2,024 franchise brands